Tomorrow, the EEOC is expected to publish its final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. They were previewed in a press release earlier this week. Since nearly every lawfirm is producing their own summary of what are, in my view, fairly straightforward implementation regulations, this post will take a different tact — namely how these regulations are the same (or differ) from Connecticut’s own pregnancy accommodations statute and guidance. As Connecticut employers no doubt should recall, Connecticut passed expansive changes to the pregnancy discrimination law in 2017 back requir ..read more

It’s March and things are heating up at the General Assembly so let’s get right at the bills that employers should be aware of. Senate Bill 4 — which is deemed to be a Senate caucus priority bill, and thus something employers should pay attention to — redefines discrimination in a way that has never been done before and attacks non-disclosure agreements in doing so. A public hearing is scheduled for March 20th. The bill would create a new cause of action in court for the following “discriminatory practice” For an employer, by the employer or the employer’s agent to: (A) Refuse to hire or empl ..read more

This month, I published a new article for Practicing Law Institute Chronicle entitled Neurodiversity in the Workplace. The article builds off a post I did last November by taking a look at some of the cases that have tackled the subject. For those unfamiliar with the topic, I summarized it in the article as follows: Neurodiversity, according to Harvard Health Publishing, is defined as “the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; that there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits ..read more

Last week, Law360 quoted me in an article on marital status discrimination. (They timed it for Valentine’s Day; make of that what you will.) The gist of the article is that marital status discrimination is something for employers to be mindful of. And for that premise, I’m in agreement. Several states, including Connecticut, explicitly prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of marital status. In fact, it’s right there in Conn. Gen. Stat. 46a-60(b)(1): It shall be a discriminatory practice in violation of this section. for an employer… to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to di ..read more

Employment discrimination claims are often decided on the merits of the claim. Courts routinely have to answer the question: Did the employer discriminate on the basis of a protected class against an employee in terminating the employment of that individual? But there’s another class of cases that can resolved on procedural grounds, often times in the employer’s favor. Employment discrimination claims have a statute of limitations. In Connecticut, if discrimination claims aren’t filed with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights or Opportunities or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commissi ..read more

Don’t believe the hype — Valentine’s Day may be for lovers, but for employers, it’s only trouble. Indeed, back in 2011, I highlighted the perils of Valentine’s Day for employers recapping various cases in which Valentine’s Day played a central role. Given the day, I thought I would reprint it today as a reminder — please don’t send out hearts to your office crush. It’s Valentine’s Day! Chocolate, flowers, what could go wrong? There are, of course, a few of you who are scratching your head and thinking “How can anything go wrong? It’s a holiday full of love and romance!” And therein lies the p ..read more

A significant change has gone into effect New York City effective on November 22, 2023 with an amendment to the city’s Human Rights law. The key focus of this amendment is the prohibition of discrimination based on an individual’s height and weight in employment, housing, and public accommodations. The law prohibits NYC employers — that is, employers with employees resident in NYC — from making such decisions. The law specifically disallows employers from discriminating against employees or job applicants based on their actual or perceived height and weight. However, there are exceptions to t ..read more

The latest episode of “From Lawyer to Employer”, a Shipman podcast that I’m hosting this season, is now live and it’s all about accommodations and leaves in the workplace. What we try to tackle, however, are the more challenging or unusual accommodation requests that employers sometimes get. Accommodating someone who is restricted in their ability to lift something is far different than accommodating someone who has ADHD or a phobia or is suffering from “stress”. Oftentimes, these situations hinge on a particular fact that might be unusual or unique. In this podcast, we look at some of these ..read more

Continuing my series of posts arising from the ABA Labor & Employment Conference earlier this month, one of the most interesting programs I attended was a plenary session on neurodiversity in the workplace. “Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one “right” way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits. The word neurodiversity refers to the diversity of all people, but it is often used in the context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as other neurol ..read more

For HR professionals and employment lawyers, the basics of FMLA and ADA is an oft-covered topic in law firm webinars. But I’ve heard from plenty of people that they’re good with the basics; it’s the tricky issues that give them headaches. With the acknowledgement that one person’s difficult question may be another person’s easy one, my colleagues, Keegan Drenosky and Claire Pariano, (with an assist from someone you know from this blog, ahem) will try to tackle at least some of these challenges at the first program of my firm’s Fall Webinar Series for Employers. Starting on October 3rd at noon ..read more